The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), as amended, requires the Department
to calculate and publish a student loan cohort default rate.

The draft FY 2007 national student loan cohort default rate is 6.9 percent.
The draft rate increased from the national FY 2006 official rate of 5.2 percent
and the national FY 2005 official rate of 4.6 percent.

The FY 2007 draft cohort default rates represent the percentage of borrowers
in the Federal Family Education Loan and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan
programs who began repaying their loans between Oct. 1, 2006, and Sept. 30,
2007, and who defaulted on or before Sept. 30, 2008.

Each February, the Department calculates and releases draft rates for each
institution. Schools have the opportunity to review their draft rates and may
challenge the calculations. Draft rates do not result in sanctions and can change
between February and the release of the official cohort default rate in September.
Therefore, individual institutional draft rates are not made public.

Borrowers needing assistance in repaying their student loans can visit www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov
or contact the holders of their loans to learn about repayment options. For
help locating their loan holders, borrowers may access www.nslds.ed.gov
or contact the Department's Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID
(1-800-433-3243).

Additional information on the national draft Direct Loan Program and Federal
Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) student loan default rates as well as
aggregate national draft rates by type of postsecondary institution are attached
to this announcement.